WASHINGTON — House Republicans protected $2 billion in annual cuts to the nation's food stamp program Wednesday as lawmakers began working their way through more than 100 amendments to the long-overdue farm bill.

Rep. Frank Lucas, an Oklahoma Republican, debates the farm bill on Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives. Photo provided by C-SPAN

A proposal to restore the $2 billion to food stamp spending failed 234-188, with nearly all Democrats in support and most Republicans in opposition.

The vote was a victory for Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Cheyenne, who is shepherding his first farm bill through full House debate as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. In the first day of voting on amendments, Lucas preserved his legislation from proposed changes to nutrition, conservation and farm payment programs.

Farm programs are running on a temporary extension since they expired last fall. Lucas' panel and the Senate Agriculture Committee have been forced to cut overall spending on the programs, and Lucas' bill would slash $20.5 billion over the next five years.

About 80 percent of the farm bill's cost is in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. The pairing of the food stamp program with safety-net programs for farmers has for decades helped rural lawmakers gain support from urban ones for farm bills.

Numerous outside groups have called for lawmakers to separate the nutrition programs from farm policy to give each more scrutiny. Some House members authored an amendment to do that, but they were not allowed to offer their proposal.

Many Democrats have said they would not back this farm bill because of the food stamp cuts, putting pressure on Lucas to garner strong support from Republicans.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., offered the amendment to restore $2 billion a year in funding to the food stamp program that would be cut under Lucas' bill. McGovern said the U.S. government spends $2 billion a week on aid to a “corrupt” government in Afghanistan.

The $2 billion cut, he said, would end nutrition assistance to 2 million people and 200,000 children who get subsidized meals at their schools. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, of California, said food stamps boost the economy.

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Chris Casteel began working for The Oklahoman's Norman bureau in 1982 while a student at the University of Oklahoma. After covering the police beat, federal courts and the state Legislature in Oklahoma City, he moved to Washington in 1990, where...